Wausau Center

Wausau Center is an enclosed shopping mall which opened in 1983 in downtown Wausau, Wisconsin. The anchor store is HOM Furniture. There are 2 vacant anchor stores that were once JCPenney and Sears. It is managed by Mid-America Real Estate Group.

Wausau Center
LocationWausau, Wisconsin
AddressWausau Center
Opening dateAugust 3, 1983
DeveloperJacobs Visconsi Jacobs
OwnerWausau Opportunity Zone, Inc.
No. of stores and services40+
No. of anchor tenants3 (1 open, 2 vacant)
Total retail floor area423,132 square feet (39,000 m2)
No. of floors1

History

The downtown area of Wausau was blighted by many vacant buildings in the late 1970s. A referendum was passed in 1979 to allow Richard E. Jacobs' Jacobs Visconsi & Jacobs Group to build the mall. Approximately 67 buildings were demolished to make way for the mall, which opened on August 3, 1983. To commemorate the opening, a five-day-long celebration was held.[1] Its original anchors were J. C. Penney, Sears, and Prange's (later Younkers).[2][3] Walgreens, an original tenant, moved out in 2003.[4]

In 2006, the mall owners began a renovation which included new seating areas and an improved mall entrance.[5] Two years later, the food court was expanded, using space vacated that same year by a McDonald's.[6]

The mall lost all three anchor stores between 2014 and 2018, with Younkers being the last of the three to close; in June 2019, HOM Furniture opened as the center's sole anchor store, having acquired the previously closed Younkers location.[7]

On February 4, 2020, the mall was sold to Wausau Opportunity Zone, Inc. (WOZ). The acquisition does not include HOM Furniture, or the two parking ramps. It is planned for demolition sometime in 2021 to make way for a multimillion-dollar redevelopment, which will include residential and retail areas, office space, restaurants, entertainment and green spaces.[8]

References
  1. Blaschka, Shawn; Spialek, Anji; Williams, Sharon (2011). Haunted Wausau: The Ghostly History of Big Bull Falls. pp. 35–37. ISBN 9781609491109.
  2. "Recent downtown projects". Downtown Retail Development Opportunities, 1984. International Council of Shopping Centers: 72. 1984. ISBN 9780913598368.
  3. "Wausau, Wisconsin". Stores. National Retail Dry Goods Association: 41. 1984.
  4. Paulsen, David (16 July 2003). "Walgreens prepares for move". Wausau Daily Herald. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  5. Sargent, Nick (27 April 2006). "Multimillion-dollar renovation planned for Wausau Center". Wausau Daily Herald. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  6. "Wausau Center Mall To Renovate Food Court". WAOW. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  7. https://wausaupilotandreview.com/2018/01/31/wausau-center-younkers-to-close/
  8. https://www.greaterwausau.org/woz/
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